1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cord retraction devices and more particularly pertains to a new retractable blind pull for automatically retracting a cord after use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of cord retraction devices is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,473 to Rozon; U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,893 to McCluskey; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 353,503 to Belue; U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,298 to Langhart et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,638 to Burger et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,581 to Hill all disclose cord retraction devices.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,658 to Schartner includes a cylindrical housing having a front face, a back face and a cylindrical side wall therebetween. The cylindrical side wall has an aperture therethrough exposing a hollow interior. The aperture receives a free end of a mini-blind cord therein. A spool is rotatably disposed within the hollow interior of the cylindrical housing between the front and back face thereof. The spool includes a forward flange, an intermediate flange and a back flange. A space between the forward flange and the intermediate flange is disposed below the aperture in the cylindrical side wall of the cylindrical housing with the mini-blind cord wrapping around the spool between the forward flange and the intermediate flange. A coil spring is wrapped around the spool between the intermediate flange and the back flange for rotation of the spool thereby retracting the mini-blind cord therearound. A lock button is slidably received through the front face of the cylindrical housing and the spool for selectively engaging the spool.
The above cord retractors have several drawbacks for retracting a number of cords individually and without jamming.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,281 to Foley shows a cord winder apparatus where one or more cords are attached to a tongue extending from a cord reel housing and are taken up inside the housing when the tongue is released. If the tongue of the device by Foley is prematurely released before cords are attached, the tongue is taken up into the cord reel housing and cannot easily be retrieved without opening the housing, which presents a difficulty for the typical user. It would be desirable to obtain a cord reel device that is easily installed and operated by a general user for taking up multiple cords.